Bruce's Buzz: All Your Community Rugby News
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Rugby is growing - and fast. With the inaugural ProRugby North America season just completed and the inclusion of 7's as an Olympic sport for the first time in 92 years, its an exciting time for the sport. Community rugby is where all great rugby legends begin so I'm properly excited about what this growth will mean for local clubs and schools. Looking forward to seeing some great new talent coming through!
South Africa
With the annual Gold Cup (formerly the Community Cup) kicking off on 10 September, South African clubs are in a race to secure the final qualifying spots. 20 clubs will compete in a Rugby World Cup-style format consisting of eight pool matches per week for five weeks up until 8 October.
The top two from each group will progress to the quarter-finals a week later. All knockout matches, including the Semi-finals (22 October) and Grand Final (29 October) will be hosted at participating clubs.
“People are flocking back to their clubs in their thousands and the profile and quality of club rugby has risen sharply in the last few years – look through the Currie Cup team sheets for this coming weekend and they are filled with players who have cut their teeth in club rugby,” says SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux.
Boland Park in Worcester hosted a historic 10 000 strong crowd for a derby between long-time rivals Worcester Villagers and Young Hamiltons. The match decided by the final kick off a pulsating encounter and was won 19-18 by Villagers.
PE Harlequins were due to play Gardens in the EP Grand Challenge final to decide who will go into the Gold Cup play-offs next week, but crowds invaded the pitch after a match between Despatch Ooste and United Barbarians (Easterns) causing the ref to cancel the match due to safetly concerns. The rescheduled date is yet to be confirmed.
U18 International Series
Round 2 of the U18 International series will be hosted at Bishops in Cape Town today. Wales will be looking to improve thier handling performance as errors cost them dearly in their match against South Africa last week where they were defeated 23-17.
The England side will be pushing for a win against South Africa Schools A after their loss to France in the 1st round. The French lead 23-8 at half time and although the Roses came back with a tough fight, the men in blue held on for the win 23-18.
The SA Schools team got their campaign off to a sterling start with a well-balanced performance by the forwards and backs. Wales managed to take two over the chalk but the Saffas ultimately triumphed 23-17.
Tuesday, August 16 at Bishops
13.00: Wales vs Italy
14.30: SA Schools A vs England
16.00: SA Schools vs France
Saturday, August 20 at Paarl Boys' High
13.00: France vs Italy
14.30: SA Schools A vs Wales
16.00: SA Schools vs England
Follow all the matches live in YouScore, Ultimate Rugby's live scoring tool for schools and clubs.
Pre-Season in Europe
Fixtures for the Ulster Bank League, Leinster and Connacht are now available to view in YouScore. Favoruite your local club for team news and score updates every week.
Bruce's Buzz is a weekly column bringing you all the news from amateur rugby clubs and schools from around the globe. Written by @JudgeRugby.
YouScore is a comprehensive live rugby scoring tool for clubs and schools. Create games, score your matches live, share results with fans and follow your local teams. Brought to you by Ultimate Rugby.
